Overview of
Firmware

E-Series Servers
use Cisco-certified firmware specific to the
E-Series Server
model that you are using. You can download new releases of the firmware for all
supported server models from Cisco.com.

To avoid potential problems, we strongly recommend that you use
the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), which upgrades the CIMC, BIOS, and other
firmware components to compatible levels.
For
detailed information about this utility, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter
in the
Getting Started Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.
This chapter also provides information about the compatible HUU, CIMC, and BIOS
software releases.

Note

The HUU is
supported on CIMC, release 2.1.0 and later releases.

If you choose to upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware
manually—instead of using the HUU—you must update the CIMC firmware first, and
then the BIOS firmware. Do not install the new BIOS firmware until after you
have activated the compatible CIMC firmware or the server will not boot.

The CIMC firmware
update process is divided into the following stages to minimize the amount of
time the server will be offline:

Installation—During this stage, CIMC installs the
selected CIMC firmware in the non-active, or backup, slot on the server.

Activation—During
this stage, CIMC sets the non-active firmware version as active and reboots the
server, causing a disruption in service. When the server reboots, the firmware
in the new active slot becomes the running version.

After you activate
the CIMC firmware, you can update the BIOS firmware. The server must be powered
off during the entire BIOS update process. Once the CIMC finishes rebooting,
the server can be powered on and returned to service.

Note

You can either
upgrade an older firmware version to a newer one, or downgrade a newer firmware
version to an older one.

Options for
Upgrading Firmware

You can use either
the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility (HUU) to upgrade the firmware components or you
can upgrade the firmware components manually.

HUU—We
recommend that you use the HUU ISO file to upgrade all firmware components,
which include the CIMC and BIOS firmware.

For detailed instructions for upgrading the firmware using the
HUU, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter in the
Getting
Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network
Compute Engine.

Note

You cannot use the HUU to upgrade the
Programmable Logic Devices (PLD) firmware. You must use the Cisco IOS CLI to
upgrade the PLD firmware. For details, see the "Upgrading Programmable Logic
Devices Firmware on the E-Series EHWIC NCE" section in the
CLI Configuration Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.

Manual
Upgrade—To manually upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware, you must
first obtain the firmware from Cisco Systems, and then use the CIMC GUI or the
CIMC CLI to upgrade it. After you upgrade the firmware, reboot the system.

Obtaining Software
from Cisco Systems

Use this procedure
to download drivers, BIOS and CIMC firmware, and the diagnostics image.

Click the
Download button associated with software image that
you want to download.

The
End
User License Agreement dialog box appears.

Step 11

(Optional) To
download multiple software images, do the following:

Click the
Add to cart button associated with the software
images that you want to download.

Click the
Download Cart button located on the top right .

All the
images that you added to the cart display.

Click the
Download All button located at the bottom right
corner to download all the images.

The
End User License Agreement dialog box appears.

Step 12

Click
Accept
License Agreement.

Step 13

Do one of the
following as appropriate:

Save the
software image file to a local drive.

If you plan
to install the software image from a TFTP server, copy the file to the TFTP
server that you want to use.

The server
must have read permission for the destination folder on the TFTP server.

What to Do Next

Install the software
image.

Installing CIMC Firmware from a Remote Server

Note

To avoid potential problems, we strongly recommend that you use
the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), which upgrades the CIMC, BIOS, and other
firmware components to compatible levels.
For
detailed information about this utility, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter
in the
Getting Started Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.
This chapter also provides information about the compatible HUU, CIMC, and BIOS
software releases.

If you choose to upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware
manually—instead of using the HUU—you must update the CIMC firmware first, and
then the BIOS firmware. Do not install the new BIOS firmware until after you
have activated the compatible CIMC firmware or the server will not boot.

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to install CIMC firmware through the browser.

In the Install CIMC Firmware dialog box, complete the following fields:

Name

Description

Install CIMC Firmware from drop-down list

The type of remote server on which the firmware image is located. This can be one of the following:

TFTP Server

FTP Server

SFTP Server

SCP Server

HTTP Server

Note

Depending on the remote server that you select from the drop-down list, the fields that display change.

TFTP, FTP, SFTP, SCP, or HTTP Server IP/Hostname field

The IP address or hostname of the server on which the firmware image resides.

Image Path and Filename field

The path and filename of the firmware image.

When you enter the filename, include the relative path for the image file from the top of the server tree to the file location.

Username field

The username the system should use to log in to the remote server.

Note

If the username is not configured, enter anonymous for the username and any character(s) for the password.

Note

This field is not displayed if the remote server is TFTP or HTTP.

Password field

The password for the remote server username.

Note

If the username is not configured, enter anonymous for the username and any character(s) for the password.

Note

This field is not displayed if the remote server is TFTP or HTTP.

Step 5

Click Install Firmware.

What to Do Next

Activate the CIMC firmware.

Installing CIMC Firmware Through the Browser

Note

To avoid potential problems, we strongly recommend that you use
the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), which upgrades the CIMC, BIOS, and other
firmware components to compatible levels.
For
detailed information about this utility, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter
in the
Getting Started Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.
This chapter also provides information about the compatible HUU, CIMC, and BIOS
software releases.

If you choose to upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware
manually—instead of using the HUU—you must update the CIMC firmware first, and
then the BIOS firmware. Do not install the new BIOS firmware until after you
have activated the compatible CIMC firmware or the server will not boot.

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to install the CIMC firmware through the browser.

In the Activate Firmware dialog box, choose the firmware image to activate.

Step 5

Click Activate Firmware.

Installing the BIOS
Firmware Through the Browser

Note

To avoid potential problems, we strongly recommend that you use
the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), which upgrades the CIMC, BIOS, and other
firmware components to compatible levels.
For
detailed information about this utility, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter
in the
Getting Started Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.
This chapter also provides information about the compatible HUU, CIMC, and BIOS
software releases.

If you choose to upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware
manually—instead of using the HUU—you must update the CIMC firmware first, and
then the BIOS firmware. Do not install the new BIOS firmware until after you
have activated the compatible CIMC firmware or the server will not boot.

In the
Install
BIOS Firmware dialog box, click
Browse and use the
Choose
File dialog box to select the file to install.

Step 5

Click
Install
Firmware.

The BIOS is
downloaded, the host is powered off, the BIOS is upgraded, and then the host is
powered on.

Installing the BIOS
Firmware from a TFTP Server

Note

To avoid potential problems, we strongly recommend that you use
the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), which upgrades the CIMC, BIOS, and other
firmware components to compatible levels.
For
detailed information about this utility, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter
in the
Getting Started Guide for
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute
Engine.
This chapter also provides information about the compatible HUU, CIMC, and BIOS
software releases.

If you choose to upgrade the CIMC and BIOS firmware
manually—instead of using the HUU—you must update the CIMC firmware first, and
then the BIOS firmware. Do not install the new BIOS firmware until after you
have activated the compatible CIMC firmware or the server will not boot.